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I chose forced air over hydronic, and if I had to make the decision again, I would probably make the same decision.

The folks that prefer hydronc prefer it for some very good reasons as well.

The cost was around $8K for materials and another 7K in labor.

I went with Wallas furnaces. Partly because of their silent operation, and partly because of the ability to bring in fresh air.

We used three forced air furnaces. One for the salon, one for the cabins, and a third for the pilothouse. This keeps the boat toasty warm dound to about 10 degrees. Colder than that and it's a bit chilly and i have to run the electric heaters.

The only down side is that I have three separate furnaces to maintsain. That said this season is season 6 and I have for the first time had to go through the heaters. The salon one was my learning one and it took 3 hours. I just completely tore down and cleaned out the pilothouse one and it took half that time.

I have had three ignightors go out in that time period, otherwise they have been pretty well perfect. An ignitor takes maybe 15 minutes to replace.

As a FYI I run the one in the cabins all winter long to keep the boat aired out and somewhat warm, wv=en though it is of course fully winterized.

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I see your in our neck of the woods. No idea the cost but our 4788 has a hydronic system with a Wesbato furnace. We have four zones one for the salon, one for the guest head and stateroom, one for the master head and stateroom and then vents to defrost/heat the pilothouse. This works incredibly well for us and allows Year around boating. The system will also heat the domestic hot water.

If you paid to have the furnace installed it would be a decent DIY to run all the lines and install the heaters etc. make sure no matter who installs it or what type of system you install that the furnace exhaust is located somewhere that won't start a dock fire or burn up a dinghy! Ours is on the Starboard side high enough to clear most docks, we also use a larger diameter stern fender to maintain an adaquate distance.

Our system puts out much more heat than the factory electric units.

Partner in a 1999 4788

Seattle, WA

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We have the Webasto Hydronic system and wouldn't have anything else. We live on board year around in the PNW. Our system consists of a Webasto DBW2010 which is a 45000 BTU unit, Webasto also has a DBW2020 which is a 85000 BTU unit although I don't think you need it. Two heat exchangers that keep the engines warm or with a flick of a switch, the engines can provide heat to the system while underway, There are five radiators, one for the salon, one in the pilothouse which also defrosts the windows, one in the companion way, one in the master stateroom and one in the companion way compartment which feeds both heads with air ducts. All the radiators have fans to circulate the heat. We also have a water heater that is solely fed by the diesel heat system which adds 8 gallons of hot water to the system. The system also feeds our stock Electric/Engine heat hot water heaters which totals 22 gallons (11 each).

One of the distinct advantages, I think, you get from the Hydronic system over the forced air is the tubing itself. The radiated heat from the hose helps to keep the bilge, utility and every clothing cabinet on our boat warm and dry. Important when living on board. It may take a little time to run it though everything but if you think about it, you have a continuous loop with all the components of the system are feed in series, one after the other. Running the hose through the compartments as apposed to under them is much easier.

The hose is 3/4 inch, maybe 1.25" in OD so it fits in places that air ducts won't and is fairly easy to run. You will still need to drill some holes to run the hose through bulkheads but a much small hole than air ducts. Also there is less chance of collapsing the hose over an air duct.

Another advantage of the hydronic is you have one boiler/heater not multiple units to do the work like some air systems. Mine is located in the lazerette. It is easy to access for maintenance. Although there is no maintenance required. As a live aboard I have had to replace the fan motor, not sure how old it was but an easy job and a coupler between he motor and the pump drive. That is my fault because i didn't replace it when I did the motor three years ago. Short of that maybe popping it open to inspect it once a year might be a good idea but I haven't needed to in seven years of living on board.

I am a real proponent of the Webasto, great unit, rarely needs service and easy to work on. If you are interested in more information contact Sure Marine in Ballard, Wa. They are great people and go out of their way to help people. They will give you the total skinny on either type of system so you can make the decision that is right for you. They can sell you the equipment and help with the install or with advice. Great people to work with.

Sure Marine are not only experts with forced air heating, they also are hydronic heating experts. But, they do not do installations; they are dealers.

A great installer in the Salish Sea area is Bob Dickey - First Mate Marine Inc. Bob is extremely knowledgeable and had 100s of installations under his belt. Last year he reconfigured the ducting in my boat and I was very pleased with the work. Bob can provide you an all-up quote for a system. http://www.firstmatemarine.com/

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I also had the Webasto system on our 4788, with 5 zones. On a January trip to Princess Louisa we had snow/ice on the decks for a week and the system kept the bike toasty down to 10F.

Sure Marine is also a Webasto Distributor and provides excellent support.

I used a double heat exchanger in the salon and master, singles at four other locations, plus a double w/ a fan speed control for defrosting the PH windows. Each stat turned on its fan(s) and the circulating pump. The system will draw 9ampswhen running so plan that into your battery capacity.

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I chose to install the Hurricane II in my 4588. Canadian made system burns extremely clean and efficient.... had it now 8 years and it's been problem free. I chose to use zonal electronic thermostats. I also added my red-dot into the system and made custom heat exchangers so that the engines will also heat the sytem as well. The Hurricane also has a 120V element in the boiler so I can run on 120V dockside and keep the boat stable in winter.. My engines also get convective heat from the exchanger placement below them, so my engines are warmed by the system as well. Make a good diagram of your system and plan carefully where the expansion tank is in your 'loop'.... good luck!

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"capnken" post=823109 wrote:
I chose to install the Hurricane II in my 4588. Canadian made system burns extremely clean and efficient.... had it now 8 years and it's been problem free. I chose to use zonal electronic thermostats. I also added my red-dot into the system and made custom heat exchangers so that the engines will also heat the sytem as well. The Hurricane also has a 120V element in the boiler so I can run on 120V dockside and keep the boat stable in winter.. My engines also get convective heat from the exchanger placement below them, so my engines are warmed by the system as well. Make a good diagram of your system and plan carefully where the expansion tank is in your 'loop'.... good luck!

+1

A good friend has a a Hurricane on his boat as well. His setup is very similar to yours. He loves it.

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Our 47 has a Hurricane hydronic system. It was not operational when we bought it and I have not used it in the three years we have owned it. I'm just now getting to making it operational. There is an expansion tank installed under the forward P settee in the PH. It's in the same compartment as the washer fluid reservoir. The tank is not very large. I'm guessing a gallon. For those of you that have hydronic, is this the location and size you have?